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NBA Picks

There's a fairly full slate of NBA games on this Monday and with some injuries and newly acquired players on respective NBA teams, I think that this opens the door in getting the edge on some of the betting totals, Let's take a look as we pick apart a couple of NBA games, seeking a nice profit.

No Sullinger + Bench For Knight = Under
I just went over this game in detail as I took the Suns to cover, but I'm not done. This is too good an opportunity to pass up as the betting total is listed at 213 on the NBA betting odds due to the lack of defense displayed by both teams and both offenses are very capable, when at full force.

The key to what I just said is "when at full force" and right now, both teams aren't at full force.

The Celtics have been delivered damaging news that Jared Sullinger is out for the entire season. This is a crushing blow as Sullinger is the best overall player on the team.

He can rebound the basketball and take over a game offensively. He was just coming off of a 17 point, 15 rebound performance against a much superior team in the surprising Atlanta Hawks.

For the season. Sullinger was averaging 14.4 points and 8.1 rebounds, but this is a wide body who is much better than his numbers indicate. While Sullinger is out, the Celtics will be paper thin on the inside as center Kellly Olynyk is also out. How are these points going to made up, especially with a high betting total of 213?

Now, we look at it from the Suns perspective. Brandon Knight is not a bench player. Please, keep an eye on the starting lineups because if Knight is relegated to the bench again, I really like the under. The last thing that a player, who averages 17.7 points and 5.4 assists wants to do is come off of the bench. I suspect that Eric Bledsoe is starting. This could really be disheartening to Brandon Knight. We all expect an over in this game with these defenses, but the circumstances say under.

Every Dog Has His Day
I have news to tell people that don't know. Don't expect 28 points out of Austin Rivers every single night. While Rivers might have garnered his father's approval, he's the same player that's underachieved in the NBA thus far. You have the best defense in the NBA in the Memphis Grizzlies against a Los Angeles Clippers team which is short-handed without leading scorer, Blake Griffin.

"Hack-a-Jordan"

After facing the San Antonio Spurs a few days back, there's another thing to consider. While most coaches aren't as egotistical as Gregg Popovich, his hack-a-Jordan did work despite the loss to the Clippers. It worked so well that Doc Rivers had to take DeAndre Jordan, who is having a fantastic season, off of the court.

I wouldn't be surprised if the rules changed, but until then, a lot of teams will start applying this method of play and the Clippers will end up with a lot of empty trips down the court. In their last game, the game was so out of hand that Sacramento didn't apply the hack-a-Jordan as DeAndre Jordan was just 1 for 2 from the free throw line. In a closer game, I expect Jordan to be making frequent trips to the foul line.

This isn't a great matchup for the short-handed Clippers. The Memphis Grizzlies have been dominant all season long, residing in the 2nd spot in the NBA Western Conference. While defense is the name of their game, it helps to have Mike Conley Jr. navigating the ship with two monsters in the paint such as Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.

The Grizzlies vindicated themselves after losing to OKC with a 98-92 comeback victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. If they can hold Portland to just 92 points, the Grizzlies can certainly hold the Clippers to a low total. I don't know about you, but Spencer Hawes certainly doesn't scare me. The betting total was placed too high by odds makers and this game has under written all over it. Take it with your NBA picks.